No. 1 USC looks like an impossible task .. but that's what they said in 1967, and look what happened

Up next: No. 1-ranked USC, and linebacker Rey Maualuga, who returned this INT 48 yards for a score in the Trojans' 35-3 wipeout of No. 5 Ohio State.

Here is what I filed for tomorrow's print edition.

Oregon State has beaten a No. 1-ranked team in football once in the school's 115-year history, and Mike Riley happened to be there on Nov. 11, 1967, sitting in Parker Stadium with his mom, watching the late Dee Andros' "Giant Killers'' upset mighty USC 3-0.

Riley's father, Bud Riley, was part of Andros' staff and one of the masterminds of a gritty OSU defense that held tailback O.J. Simpson in check on a sloppy field.

It was perhaps the most memorable game in school history.

If not, then it ranks a close second to No. 5 OSU's blowout, in-your-face win over Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl at the end of the 2000 season.

Still, OSU fans of a certain age can tell you where they were and what they were doing on the afternoon the Giant Killers brought down O.J. and the Trojans.

"I was totally into Oregon State football,'' said Riley, "and it was just a great, great thing to be a part of that day.''

Now, 41 years later, another USC powerhouse is coming to town with a No. 1 ranking and an eye on another national championship.

OSU (1-2) will be a huge underdog against the Trojans (2-0) next Thursday night (6 p.m., ESPN) and Riley jokingly said after Saturday's 45-7 win over Hawaii that his team might need 12 months to prepare for USC instead of 12 days.

Reminded that the Giant Killers proved, in 1967, that nothing is impossible, Riley played along and said, "you might say that. You might say we're due.''

Comparative scores don't give Riley much peace of mind as he contemplates a game plan.
While OSU has lost to Stanford and Penn State and beaten Hawaii, USC buried Virginia 52-7 in its opener, and on Saturday destroyed then-No. 5 Ohio State 35-3.

Already, media in Los Angeles are saying this might be coach Pete Carroll's best team, top to bottom, even though it doesn't have the likes of former stars Matt Leinart or Reggie Bush or LenDale White.

And there is consensus belief that the Trojans' defense, led by fearsome middle linebacker Rey Maualuga, is the best in the country.

Riley said he will start worrying about USC on Monday, when he checks out the Trojans on film with his assistant coaches.

Riley said he did see a re-play of Maualuga's 48-yard interception return for a touchdown against Ohio State, the one where the 6-foot-2, 260-pound Maualuga outruns a wide receiver.

"Oh boy,'' was Riley's reaction.

"I have not started looking at what they've done this year yet,'' said Riley, "so I'm not going to be very intelligent about exactly what I see about them. ... my understanding is, and my guess is, they're pretty good.''

Riley's players went through a light workout Sunday, and Riley said he didn't hear much chatter about USC but he knows the Beavers are excited. "We have a ton of respect for who they are and what they're doing,'' said Riley. "The fact they're coming into town with that tag as 'No. 1 team in the country' means a lot to everybody.''

Then again, he said, it is just one game. The Beavers have to prepare for No. 20 Utah after the USC game, win or lose.

Riley said there is no extra buzz in the Valley Center - not in the coaching offices - because the Trojans are coming.

He almost sounded convincing.

"I don't want to understate it, but every game for us is a Super Bowl,'' said Riley. "It's not like all of a sudden, you start working harder. Each game is its own game. We live in the moment. You get ready for that team, personnel-wise and strategy wise. How do you defend them? How do you attack them? That never changes, week to week.''

Riley's players may have other ideas about how much the game means.
They are unlikely to be awe-struck by USC, considering that some of them played in OSU's 33-31 upset of the Trojans in 2006, the last time Carroll brought a team to Corvallis.

On a national scale, it was considered a huge upset when Riley's team knocked off No. 3 USC.

In reality, although the Trojans had won 40 of their previous 41 games going back to 2003 and had won 27 straight Pac-10 games, they looked susceptible after three unexpectedly close games with Washington State, Washington, and Arizona State.

Everything the Beavers did that day was magic. The stars for OSU were quarterback Matt Moore, wide receiver Sammie Stroughter, unsung tailback Clinton Polk and defensive end Jeff Van Orsow, who batted down John David Booty's two-point conversion pass in the dying seconds.

Riley remembers the wild post-game scene on the field, and remembers the poignant story of Stroughter - inspired by the biblical story of David and Goliath - passing out small stones to each of his teammates for inspiration.

It worked.

Now, here come the Trojans again, and they might be the best team in college football.

If the David and Goliath thing worked once ...

Most would agree, if OSU wins, it would be an upset of biblical proportions.